Considering the Sikh American experience.

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From 1895 through 1986, British Movietone News produced documentary newsreels, reporting on events around the world and providing some of the earliest news footage for our historical record. These newsreels are archived now by the Associated Press: British Movietone is arguably the world’s greatest newsreel archive, spanning the period 1895 – 1986. Shot on 35mm film, this global archive contains many of the world’s enduring images and is rich in coverage of news events, celebrities, sports, music, social history, science, lifestyle […]

“Mistaken identity” has become the de facto explanation for hate crimes perpetrated against members of the Sikh American community, the logic being that Sikhs are being targeted because their articles of faith — particularly the turban, men’s beard, and brown skin — are confused by attackers for identifiers of Muslims, the latter of whom are being confused as terrorists. Both law enforcement and Sikh community leaders have defaulted to this explanation, pointing to post-9/11 backlash as the causal motivation for […]

Recent terror attacks around the world, and in particular, the United States, have called into question what we mean by “terrorist,” whereby the label appears quickly applied to non-white perpetrators of mass violence. However, conversations around counter-terrorism, regardless of the source or cause, has not seen the same level of volume. One interesting theory about counter-terrorism strategy has been posited by Dr. Ajit Kaur Mann (featured on this blog before) offering a non-violent approach with a level of depth and sophistication. This framework, based […]

Inaugural Sikh Parade Draws Thousands in Indianapolis By Lori Way The first Sikh parade ever held in the Indianapolis area took place on October 10th, 2015. Approximately 3,000-4,000 attended the celebration, which was based at Veteran’s Memorial Park and sponsored by the Sikh Society of Indiana. The goal of the event was to commemorate the anniversary of the Guru Granth Sahib’s installation as the holy book and living guru of the religion. Local Indianapolis residents were also able to learn […]

After the news of another hate crime against a Sikh American last week, American Turban contributor Lori Way shares a timely poem from a young author from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Many thanks to Lori and author Sandeep Kaur for sharing this reflection. Sandeep Kaur is currently a pharmacy student at Manchester University in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but she was just 18 in the summer of 2013 when she wrote “A Land of Love.” The poem was selected for publication in […]

In a recent episode of healthcare of a family member, we observed a healthcare provider introducing herself to the patient, announcing herself in a loud, pronounced voice. “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?” She said this very loudly this in a hospital room after our family member just had surgery and was in a vulnerable state. It was not something we appreciated, especially since our family member has lived in the west in upwards of 40 years and was well-versed in English. It […]

In its 2015 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) continued to express concern about the state of religious freedom in India, particularly after the election of current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Placing India in its “Tier 2” category (which the USCIRF defines as “countries where the violations engaged in or tolerated by the government are serious and are characterized by at least one of the elements of the ‘systematic, ongoing, and […]

On Medium, in an address after the mass murder of nine black congregants at the hands of a white supremacist in Charleston, South Carolina, writer John Metta talks about the difficulty in having conversations about race: Despite what the Charleston Massacre makes things look like, people are dying not because individuals are racist, but because individuals are helping support a racist system by wanting to protect their own non-racist self beliefs. People are dying because we are supporting a racist system […]